July 16, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA.; JULY 16, 2013 - Penn State coach Patrick Chambers announced today the appointment of Dwayne Anderson, a standout leader of Villanova's 2009 NCAA Final Four team, as an assistant coach on the Nittany Lion basketball staff.
Anderson will take on his first collegiate coaching position after four highly successful seasons playing professionally in Europe. A 2009 graduate of Villanova University with a degree in sociology, Anderson was coached by Chambers, a former Associate Head Coach in the Villanova program, on highly successful Wildcat teams that made four straight NCAA appearances and reached the Sweet 16 three times.
"Dwayne is an absolute winner and a leader, and we are fortunate to have someone of his caliber joining our staff," Chambers said. "He is fresh off a very successful playing career both in college and professionally in Europe and will be terrific connecting and communicating with the current and future players in our program."
A native of Silver Spring, Md., a suburb of Washington, D.C., Anderson played his final professional season for S.Oliver Baskets in Wurzburg, Germany, the last of three stops in a four-year professional career that also saw him play for professional clubs BG Gottingen in Germany and Morpho Basket Piacenza in Italy. A two-time German All-Star selection (2011 & 2013), he posted 13.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game in 2012-13 while leading S.Oliver Baskets in scoring, rebounding and steals to earn his second All-Star selection. He led Piacenza in rebounding in 2011-12 and earned selection to the EuroChallenge First Team (2010), Eurocup Top 8 Players (2011) and German All-Star Team (2011) during his two years with BG Gottingen.
Anderson also served as a volunteer coach for BG74, an under-13 and under-18 youth program, in Gottingen, Germany from 2009-11 and launched his own t-shirt and apparel brand called ROBY - Rock Out Be You in 2012.
"My family and I are very excited to join the Nittany Lion family and help the program as much as possible," Anderson said. "Coach Chambers means the world to me. He is like family and I am excited for the opportunity to begin my coaching career working with him."
A 6-6, 215-pound wing, Anderson emerged as a corner stone team leader during his junior and senior seasons at Villanova serving as a team captain on Wildcat teams that advanced to the Sweet 16 (2008) and Final Four (2009). A three-year letterman, he played in 23 or more games in each of his last three seasons with the Wildcats and was also part of a team that reached the NCAA Elite Eight in 2006. Anderson missed the first seven games of his senior season with a foot fracture, but returned to play in 31 contests and average 9.0 points and 6.2 rebounds per game while helping lead Villanova to the NCAA Final Four where the Wildcats lost to eventual champion North Carolina. He averaged 13.2 points and 8.6 rebounds per game in the Big East and NCAA Tournaments his senior year and scored a career high 25 points in an NCAA first round victory over American. Anderson finished his Villanova career having logged 573 points, 388 rebounds, 107 steals and 70 threes in 95 games and 42 career starts.
Anderson posted 19.7 ppg as a senior for St. John's High School in Washington, D.C. and went on to attend St. Thomas More Prep (Oakdale, Conn.) where he posted 23 points and 10 rebounds per game in one season before matriculating to Villanova.
Anderson's appointment completes the Penn State coaching staff for Chambers' third season at the helm. Chambers earlier promoted current members of the staff Brian Daly and Keith Urgo to Associate Head Coach positions and Brandon Spayd to Head Strength Coach. Chambers also earlier announced the additions of Ryan Devlin as Director of Player Development and former Nittany Lion standout Andrew Jones to a graduate assistant coaching position. Ross Condon continues in his third season as Director of Operations for Nittany Lion basketball.
Penn State conducted the first of 10 NCAA allotted Foreign Tour team practice dates on Monday and welcomed the return of All-Big Ten guard Tim Frazier (Houston, Texas) to 100 percent participation for the first time since suffering a season-ending Achilles tendon injury four games into the 2012-13 season. The Nittany Lions will return three of their top five scorers and rebounders from 2012-13 and the top two returning scorers in the Big Ten in guards D.J. Newbill (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Frazier who will form one of the most potent backcourts in the nation. Newbill, a rising junior, earned honorable-mention All-Big Ten honors while finishing fifth in the conference in scoring posting 16.3 ppg last year. Frazier, a first-team All-Big Ten selection in 2012 after finishing second in the Big Ten posting 18.8 ppg, received a medical hardship waiver from the NCAA and a fifth season of eligibility after playing in just four games in 2012-13. Rising junior forward Ross Travis (Chaska, Minn.) is the second leading returning rebounder in the Big Ten after finishing fifth in the conference last year (7.4 rpg). He posted double-doubles in three of his last seven games and will join rising sophomore Brandon Taylor (Tabernacle, N.J.), who made 32 threes in his freshman season, to anchor the frontcourt. Penn State posted a 10-21 record, but knocked of No. 4-ranked and eventual NCAA Tournament runner-up Michigan (84-78) in late February in Chambers' second season at the helm.
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